Former officer Jason Van Dyke may have been convicted, but his case is far from over

By Megan Crepeau, Jason Meisner and Stacy St. Clair

Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke
has been convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated
battery with a firearm — one for each shot he fired into 17-year-old
Laquan McDonald — but the case is far from over. What kind of prison
time will he have to serve? Will he appeal his conviction? What about
that contempt of court issue? Here’s what to watch out for in the coming
weeks:

Legal experts are unclear on what kind of prison time Van Dyke is
facing. The officer will return to court Oct. 31 for a hearing at which
both sides will begin to unravel the complicated sentencing structure in
play. A second-degree murder conviction carries anywhere from probation
to 20 years in prison, but the aggravated battery counts are actually
more serious, carrying a mandatory sentence of six years and up to 30
years in prison for potentially each count. But experts vary wildly on
how it will all play out, particularly the thorny issue of whether Judge
Vincent Gaughan will impose consecutive prison terms for each
aggravated battery count or fold them all together. Some predict Van
Dyke could face up to 60 years in prison, while others say it’s likely
much less. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune after the verdict,
special prosecutor Joseph McMahon declined to say how much prison time
he would seek. “Any sentence in prison is significant,” McMahon said. “I
wouldn’t want to spend a day in prison. I also realize that sending an
officer to prison presents other risks and safety issues.”

Van Dyke’s attorney has vowed to appeal the conviction to a higher
court, a process that would begin after sentencing. Daniel Herbert has
said in interviews that one of the reasons he filed so many pretrial
motions was to preserve issues for an appeal if Van Dyke were convicted.
After last week’s verdict, Herbert told reporters he was confident he
has a solid case, particularly on Gaughan’s denial of the defense’s
motion to move the case outside Cook County. “As I told Jason and his
family, we have a lot of legal challenges ahead of us. We know we can
get this even better and perhaps throw everything out,” he said.

The officer’s family will have to drive more than three hours to
visit Van Dyke in jail. After a four-day stay in protective custody in
Cook County Jail, Van Dyke was transferred Tuesday to the Rock Island
County Jail, where he will be held as a high-profile detainee pending
sentencing. The move was part of an arrangement Cook County has with
other jails to relocate prisoners who are high-profile, dangerous or
working as cooperating witnesses in other cases, according to Cara
Smith, chief policy officer for Sheriff Tom Dart. After he was convicted
Friday, Van Dyke underwent a routine psychological examination and was
held several nights in a cell at the jail’s infirmary, according to
Smith, who said the decision to transfer Van Dyke to Rock Island was
based on his high-profile status, not on any threats or concern for his
safety. “There were absolutely no incidents at Cook County Jail,” Smith
said. “It was completely uneventful.”

Van Dyke is still possibly on the hook for contempt of court for
granting media interviews on the eve of jury selection. Prosecutors in
August asked Gaughan to hold him in contempt for speaking with the
Tribune, an alleged violation of Gaughan’s gag order on key players in
the case. The judge deferred a hearing on the contempt issue until after
Van Dyke’s trial, only slightly raising the officer’s bail as
punishment for speaking to reporters. Criminal contempt carries with it
the specter of more jail time on top of whatever sentence Gaughan gives
Van Dyke for the murder and aggravated battery counts. It would be
surprising to some if McMahon pursued the contempt issue with Van Dyke
now facing at least six years in prison.

Three current and former Chicago cops also face trial on charges
stemming from McDonald’s shooting. Former Detective David March,
ex-Officer Joseph Walsh and Officer Thomas Gaffney were charged last
year with covering up what really happened the night Van Dyke shot
McDonald — including filing false reports to exaggerate the threat the
teen posed. They are slated for trial late next month. Walsh, who was
Van Dyke’s partner the night of the shooting, made a memorable
appearance as a witness in the murder trial, demonstrating for jurors
how he said McDonald threatened them with a knife that night and
insisting he and Van Dyke had a reasonable fear for their lives, despite
what the now-infamous police dashboard camera video of the shooting
showed.